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[Jagar123]

I will say that, as far as the GPU hierarchy and CPU hierarchy not being updated regularly, you're way off base. Right now, I'm busily retesting dozens of GPUs to switch from the old tests (about six months out of date now) to an entirely new suite. But before that, new GPUs (and CPUs from Paul) got added on a regular basis.

Testing everything on a new testbed and test suite is literally months of work, and I don't want to shift to something with only 10 cards initially, but it's in progress. Some time in the next few weeks I anticipate moving the current results to "legacy" status and making a new main page. Do note that not every paragraph gets updated with most of our updates to the hierarchy — it's mostly about the tables, IMO, showing where things rank.

The mods killed off the linked forum thread, unfortunately, partly because it was woefully outdated (the first four pages were for content that was years old). Ideally, I'd like there to be an option to make a new linked thread every month or two, to keep things relevant.

That's good to hear. Like I said, I haven't frequented those pages in years. Glad to hear you've removed the forum links and are updating them.

2. Some content, especially "best of" roundups is just copy pasted from old articles and sometimes include information that is now outdated, making it clear that very little effort was put into these "new" article lists.

This point by philged really resonated with me. This applies to the "best of" lists and the GPU/CPU charts. If you can update the written content on those semi static articles/charts, or at least verify what is written is up to date, that would go a long way toward upping the quality.

 

[derekullo]

The fact is that tech is political. It's too central to modern society and economy not to get entangled in geopolitics and even domestic politics. For the site to avoid covering any aspect of the tech industry that touches these areas would blind us to major factors and influences in how technology and the industry are evolving. Therefore, I greatly value this aspect of the publication's coverage and certainly hope it continues.

IMO, the forum is a different matter and should be addressed separately. If you want to disable comments on these articles, I think that would be regrettable but understandable.

Also, since we're discussing "politics in the forums", I think there should be clearer guidance about where the red line exists. The current rule is so vague that it leads to inconsistent enforcement and people thinking they know where the red lines are, but then eventually getting slapped and told they don't - but, still with too little information often to know exactly where they put a foot wrong.

This leads to an interesting question.

In Tom's view which is worse?

An article that no one bothers to comment on
OR
An article so controversial that everyone wants to comment on.

"The first use of a "forum" was as a public marketplace and gathering place in ancient Rome, where people would come together to conduct business, discuss politics, and socialize."

Seeing how this is a forum I don't see any reason in censoring political speech as long as it has something to do with the article.

Obviously spamming large flags and pictures not relevant to the article is spam and should be moderated so others can read the forums more easily.

Edit: I know bit_user isn't affiliated with Toms ... just an open ended question.

 

[USAFRet]

Seeing how this is a forum I don't see any reason in censoring political speech as long as it has something to do with the article.

The "problem' comes from an article referring to some tech, that just devolves into "My politician is good, yours sux!!"
And back and forth...nothing more about the actual tech aspect.

That would/will happen in EVERY Ed article with the slightest hint of politics.
We see that here all the time.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

....What happened to us?

It's called "the Internet". It allows cowards to say anonymously what they would never have the guts to say directly to someones face.

 

[Why_Me]

Shut it down like Anandtech, Tom's is just a shell of it's former self.

That board sucks starting with the mods. Granted Toms isn't the same Toms when I joined but any tech board would have to suck bigly to hit Anandtech forums level .. other than possibly the TechSpot board which also sucks.

 

[Geef]

In general Tomshardware has done a good job. There are two things that could make it better.
* Adjust the no politics rule to include writers of the stories.
* Require a second look for stories about China and it's 'claims' that their XYZ device can / might / maybe / potentially do. Stories from China always manage to make claims with nothing to back it up with no benchmarks.
I'm not trying to dump on China only, but all places that are known for inflating their position should require a second look before the story comes out.

 

[alceryes]

Funny how there is a link in the article to the actual survey and yet everyone is giving their opinions here. But then I started the survey and, by the 6th question, understood why.

People consider their own time EXTREMELY valuable. Also, as a general rule, people don't like to give personal information. With that in mind, TH asking to fill in 6+ questions with potential PII, before even getting to the meat of the survey, is not a good idea. If I was to guess, you have a 70%+ drop out by the 5th question.

Now, on to the answering your question (here, of course).
TH is doing a lot of things right. One thing that needs to be said/done, is to recognize this. Note the procedures you currently have in place. List out the articles that get overwhelmingly good praise and figure out what you did right in those articles.
And, for God's sake, keep the bean counters away! Accounting efficiency experts love to find something that is working great and think, "Hey, they surely can keep on doing great with a 17% lower budget! I'm a genius!" Then they proceed to gut a quarater of the staff and put a moratorium on the purchase of whatever is needed. You have my expressed written consent to print out this post and march it right up to the chief-bean-counter's office and stick it to their Kanban board!

 

[Thunder64]

That board sucks starting with the mods. Granted Toms isn't the same Toms when I joined but any tech board would have to suck bigly to hit Anandtech forums level .. other than possibly the TechSpot board which also sucks.

LOL. Anandtech forums are the best.

Funny how there is a link in the article to the actual survey and yet everyone is giving their opinions here. But then I started the survey and, by the 6th question, understood why.

People consider their own time EXTREMELY valuable. Also, as a general rule, people don't like to give personal information. With that in mind, TH asking to fill in 6+ questions with potential PII, before even getting to the meat of the survey, is not a good idea. If I was to guess, you have a 70%+ drop out by the 5th question.

Now, on to the answering your question (here, of course).
TH is doing a lot of things right. One thing that needs to be said/done, is to recognize this. Note the procedures you currently have in place. List out the articles that get overwhelmingly good praise and figure out what you did right in those articles.
And, for God's sake, keep the bean counters away! Accounting efficiency experts love to find something that is working great and think, "Hey, they surely can keep on doing great with a 17% lower budget! I'm a genius!" Then they proceed to gut a quarater of the staff and put a moratorium on the purchase of whatever is needed. You have my expressed written consent to print out this post and march it right up to the chief-bean-counter's office and stick it to their Kanban board!

Yup, I answered a few questions then I was just like, nope. Whoever insisted on getting so much personal information is a moron.

 

[Why_Me]

LOL. Anandtech forums are the best.

I wouldn't recommend that board to my worst enemy for build advice and don't even get me started on their echo chamber political forum.

 

[Thunder64]

I wouldn't recommend that board to my worst enemy for build advice and don't even get me started on their echo chamber political forum.

Oh I agree, Politics & News is 100% an echo chamber and no one should venture into there. It's vile. But the subforums I am in are good.

 

[Alvar "Miles" Udell]

Politics in the articles decidedly need to go, that one yesterday about TSMC exemplifies this. AI generated articles need to go as well, if I can copy the text into Scribbr's AI detector and it comes back AI generated then a senior editor can as well and then fire the writer. And as been pointed out multiple times the "advice" on a building a computer needs to either be stopped or actually improved to be proper advice and not some ticking timebomb from a cheapo power supply.

But aside from that TH needs to do more like the old TH, with more reviews, tips and tricks articles, deep dives into things that nobody else is doing like who the OEM is for power supplies. As it stands now it seems like 90% of TH articles are just news reposts from other sites., news sometimes a day or more old. In the scheme of what I'd consider to be the Big 4 of FuturePLC's tech brands (TH, TG, Windows Central, Tech Radar), TH may be more geared towards computer hardware, but it seems to have the least amount of original content of them all, and certain writers on TH seem to have a very anti-Microsoft stance.

Personally when it comes to tech news, from FuturePLC brands, Techradar, and Windows Central I go to first before TH. Outside of that there's XDA Devs for general news and some offbeat and original things, Techpowerup and Techspot have regular deal articles on software, 9To5Google (over FuturePLC's Android Central) for Android tech deals and reviews.

 

[Ful4n1t0c0sme]

Government regulations and policies have an undeniable impact on the market, so we absolutely cover them. The CHIPS Act, export controls, tariffs, and more impact the stuff you buy and what it costs you, and so we report on it fairly and honestly, I hope.

But there's nothing political on TH, afaik. Please let me know if you have seen otherwise. And we always refer to the president as "President Trump" or "President Donald Trump" on first reference. Again, if you've seen otherwise do let me know.

What do you does bot understand?
No polítics.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I'll keep it simple. Drop all political content and disable comments on anything that may even hint at politics. This is a tech site, not a political commentary site.

This. Times infinity.

 

[Notton]

"You might not be interested in politics, but politics is interested in you." or something along those lines.

Unfortunately, you'd have to purge like what.... 90% of the tech content on THG if you want zero politics because literally everything is politics these days.

AI, crypto, prices, availability, where it's made, how it's funded, who hacked who, smuggling rings, etc.

I think the only safe topic is GPU/CPU architecture and how it's all interconnected.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I would come back and write for Tom's to do dedicated 'actual' watercooling reviews.

Tom's needs to diversify - simply put, Technology is in every aspect of our lives in automobiles, home automation, outdoor/off-grid, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/electric grilling and food prep and personal gadgets.

You can buy lawnmowers and chainsaws that are battery powered and digitally connected in their ecosystems.

Computers? Sure. Hardware? Sure. Actual networking expertise? Need that. Server/Enterprise guru? Need something there, too.

Gaming consoles? Include it as a sub-section.

DIY/Custom work or builds? Make it a highlighted maker/modding section.

Really need to encourage people to be on the site and participate, not just regurgitate news for site clicks.

EDIT: I haven't been on the forums for a very long time, mostly because of the 'lack of' things mentioned above. Things need to change - this site used to be teeming with super enthusiastic people and forum activity. Now, it has just become an alternative to using Google to get 1 answer and never be heard from again.

Super glad to see you posted even though you aren't regular anymore. Would be welcome to have you posting in the mod section again if you felt like it. Miss your reviews man. Hope all is well.

 

[Darkbreeze]

"You might not be interested in politics, but politics is interested in you." or something along those lines.

Unfortunately, you'd have to purge like what.... 90% of the tech content on THG if you want zero politics because literally everything is politics these days.

AI, crypto, prices, availability, where it's made, how it's funded, who hacked who, smuggling rings, etc.

I think the only safe topic is GPU/CPU architecture and how it's all interconnected.

Having "some relation to politics" and being strictly political are entirely different things. And it's very clear which are which. One is necessarily required while the other is simply there to catch clicks and we 100% know which is which, which is what makes it so frustrating.

 

[derekullo]

"You might not be interested in politics, but politics is interested in you." or something along those lines.

Unfortunately, you'd have to purge like what.... 90% of the tech content on THG if you want zero politics because literally everything is politics these days.

AI, crypto, prices, availability, where it's made, how it's funded, who hacked who, smuggling rings, etc.

I think the only safe topic is GPU/CPU architecture and how it's all interconnected.

You seem to have forgotten the flame wars between Nvidia/ATI(AMD) and Intel/AMD !

 

[Colif]

You seem to have forgotten the flame wars between Nvidia/ATI(AMD) and Intel/AMD !

that is the other 10%

 

[thestryker]

Yeah, I miss the old Anandtech charts that you could use to see how one CPU compares with another. It'd be neat (but a lot of work, I know) to have a database with specs like TechPowerUp has, but also integrated with benchmarks to allow for easy comparison.

The push for AnandTech's Bench was one of the smartest things any tech publication has done and it hasn't been replicated. It's a great shame they were being squeezed to death because I'd have loved to see Ian Cutress finish the great CPU test (he had hundreds of CPUs he wanted to get benchmarked).

Funny you should mention. As I type this, I'm working in beta on a tool that replicates the Anandtech Bench tool (https://www.anandtech.com/bench), but for Tom's Hardware. I have it working in beta right now. Unclear when and if we'll be able to roll it out and whether it becomes a premium feature. I'd love to show you but it's probably not ready for public consumption. I have been working on it this week.

Here's hoping it all goes well (and not a premium feature)!

 

[stuff and nonesense]

What do you does bot understand?
No polítics.

Could a compromise appease you?

No partisan politics.

Where a government had passed a rule/law that directly or indirectly significantly affects tech it is valid to report as news. No spin, no opinion, no snarky commentary.

For example, ARM being sold to SoftBank and then the attempted purchase by Nvidia, business does as business does, it tries to make money and ARM got paid. SoftBank could have made a fortune from Nvidia but politicians through regulators blocked the acquisition for a variety of reasons.

A hard no politics rule would have prevented the reporting of that story at the time. It was hugely relevant.

 

[Ful4n1t0c0sme]

Could a compromise appease you?

No partisan politics.

Where a government had passed a rule/law that directly or indirectly significantly affects tech it is valid to report as news. No spin, no opinion, no snarky commentary.

For example, ARM being sold to SoftBank and then the attempted purchase by Nvidia, business does as business does, it tries to make money and ARM got paid. SoftBank could have made a fortune from Nvidia but politicians through regulators blocked the acquisition for a variety of reasons.

A hard no politics rule would have prevented the reporting of that story at the time. It was hugely relevant.

Please remember this Is a hardware site. Not a polítics site.

 

[Why_Me]

Please remember this Is a hardware site. Not a polítics site.

Chip manufacturing is tied into geo-politics these days. It is what it is.

 

[stuff and nonesense]

Please remember this Is a hardware site. Not a polítics site.

I agree, it isn’t a politics site but decisions made by governments have consequences. The consequences are positive or negative depending on your own point of view. I’m not suggesting that the choices made by governments be discussed, however the impact of those decisions on the tech field is important.

Taking, for example, the US chips act, it is political. Its intention is to stimulate US based chip production. (No bias as to whether it’s good or bad thing).
Should TH ignore that the chips act has been passed and monies are being distributed - that is should TH report/have reported the events of the time and as time passes should TH in the future report the results (whether beneficial or otherwise)?

There has to be a line with regard to politics that isn’t crossed. A partisan argument by the supporters of the purple party and the supporters of yellow party serves no one, as such the mods are right to close such discussions. Reporting that a government has passed a bill/law that will have consequences that affect the tech field is valid.

A report doesn’t have to invite a discussion in forums, it serves to inform us that something has happened. The skill of the writer is in presenting the reports in a neutral, apolitical manner. The writers need to avoid their own personal biases whether conscious or unconscious, this means having good editors to vet any potential contentious articles.


This focus on politics sidelining the purpose of the thread so 😐.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

I agree, it isn’t a politics site but decisions made by governments have consequences. The consequences are positive or negative depending on your own point of view. I’m not suggesting that the choices made by governments be discussed, however the impact of those decisions on the tech field is important.

Taking, for example, the US chips act, it is political. Its intention is to stimulate US based chip production. (No bias as to whether it’s good or bad thing).
Should TH ignore that the chips act has been passed and monies are being distributed - that is should TH report/have reported the events of the time and as time passes should TH in the future report the results (whether beneficial or otherwise)?

There has to be a line with regard to politics that isn’t crossed. A partisan argument by the supporters of the purple party and the supporters of yellow party serves no one, as such the mods are right to close such discussions. Reporting that a government has passed a bill/law that will have consequences that affect the tech field is valid.

A report doesn’t have to invite a discussion in forums, it serves to inform us that something has happened. The skill of the writer is in presenting the reports in a neutral, apolitical manner. The writers need to avoid their own personal biases whether conscious or unconscious, this means having good editors to vet any potential contentious articles.


This focus on politics sidelining the purpose of the thread so 😐.

A competent writer can write such an article as to minimize the political aspects of the story without compromising the story itself. However, the writers here are encouraged to go the other direction and be as overtly political as possible as it increases the number of eyeballs, and therefore revenue.

 

[stuff and nonesense]

A competent writer can write such an article as to minimize the political aspects of the story without compromising the story itself. However, the writers here are encouraged to go the other direction and be as overtly political as possible as it increases the number of eyeballs, and therefore revenue.

If that’s the choice, it’s a different argument.